Businessman Liam Ryan is to invest €7.5m upgrading two of his five supermarkets in Munster.
He’s confirmed the biggest spend will €5m at his flagship SuperValu in Glanmire, Co Cork and a further €2.5m will be spent on upgrading his supermarket in Kilmallock, Co Limerick.
Mr Ryan told the Irish Examiner he plans a major “refresh” for the Glanmire outlet which he opened in 2000 and extended at a cost of €12m in 2010, almost doubling it size from 14,000 sq ft to 27,000 sq ft.
It’s believed to be the largest SuperValu outlet in the country and it’s envisaged the work will start this year “After 15 years. it needs a refresh and we’re currently finalising plans for that. It’ll be a refurbishment of the entire store and will include a new, modern bakery, a new range of food to go and a diverse range of ‘foods of the world.’ In addition, we will be developing a sit down eating area,” Mr Ryan said.
He confirmed he’s also going to spend at least €2.5m sprucing up his outlet in Kilmallock, but that project won’t be undertaken until 2026.
Mr Ryan recently completed an €8m in-vestment in his SuperValu in Togher, Cork City and this followed another upgrading at his supermarket in Grange, Douglas a little over two years ago.
He also owns a smaller Centa supermarket in Aherla, Co Cork.
Mr Ryan said the multi-million euro flood prevention works in Glanmire had severely impacted his supermarket and other busi-nesses in the area.
He said his taking have gone down by about 15% in the past year due to construction works which have caused many traffic delays and significantly impacted access to and from his business and several others in the adjoining Hazelwood and Crestfield shopping centres.
However, he said that while his revenue has taken a hit he understands that the work is necessary to protect 100-plus householders and businesses (including his own) which were severely impacted by flooding on June 28, 2012.
Work around the shopping centres is now at its peak and will include the creation of new riverside walls, pumping stations and a higher elevation bridge connecting the two so water will be able to escape quicker along the Glashaboy river from there downstream.
In the meantime, other works have also been ongoing to the local road infrastructure.
The upgrade of the junction of the main road through Glanmire and the Hazelwood Road, which connects to the shopping centres, is all but completed and the traffic congestion caused there by this project has considerably eased.
This was one of the primary causes why people stayed away from the shopping centres.
“I’m very much aware of the difficulties this caused to my customers and those of other businesses. The investment I am planning in the supermarket is being timed to coincide with the completion of the major flood relief works in this area (Riverstown) and it will offer state-of-the-art shopping to my returning customers,” Mr Ryan added.